Mesolithic hearth-pits: fact or fantasy? A reassessment based on the evidence from the sites of Doel and Verrebroek (Belgium)

Crombé, Philippe; Langohr, Roger; Louwagie, Geertrui

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.06.001

Cited by 29 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(26 reference statements)

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“…Chapman 1992, Hancock 2012, Zohary et al 2012. Especially Fallopia convolvulus, which is regarded as an alien in the Czech Republic, is suspected of being a native species since it is recorded from Mesolithic settlements in Sweden (Regnell 2012), Scotland (Bishop et al 2014), Russia (Dolukhanov 2016) and Belgium (Crombé et al 2015).…”

Section: Invasion History Of the Segetal And Ruderal Floramentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient and Early Medievalman-made habitats in the Czech Republic

Pokorná¹,

Kočár²,

Novák³

et al. 2018

Preslia

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The invasion history of archaeophytes (i.e. alien taxa that were introduced into Europe prior to AD 1500), their effect on past vegetation and their present status based on their residence time were studied. The residence times of archaeophytes range from 7500 to 500 years. It is likely that species with other functional traits came at different times. We summarized assemblages of macroremains obtained from the Archaeobotanical Database of the Czech Republic. The data based on 202 archaeological sites cover the period from the Neolithic to the Early Middle Ages. We found 123 alien species and 94 synanthropic species native in the Czech Republic. Three waves of immigration of increasing magnitude were distinguished: (i) the Neolithic, (ii) the Bronze Age, and (iii) the Early Middle Ages. The first phase of synanthropic plant immigration was characterized by the prevalence of native and alien generalist species, which are still very abundant, sharing both ruderal and segetal habitats. Specialist weeds of cereal fields occurred only since the Eneolithic. In the ruderal flora, the successive development started from a stage dominated by species associated with disturbance of less fertile soils and species that need nutrient-rich soils prevailed later. The composition of the oldest grassland flora corresponded with that of short lawns at disturbed and/or trampled sites, whereas a sudden increase in meadow species occurred in the Late Bronze Age. Since the Middle Ages, pastural species, avoided by grazing animals, indicate the intense use of pastures and their expansion into wet conditions. The species that arrived early in this era, i.e. in the Neolithic, are currently more successful than the later arrivals. Such a trend cannot be explained by the length of time they have had to naturalize and spread because all archaeophytes have been here long enough, whether they arrived early or late, to be

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Section: Invasion History Of the Segetal And Ruderal Floramentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient and Early Medievalman-made habitats in the Czech Republic

Pokorná¹,

Kočár²,

Novák³

et al. 2018

Preslia

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“…It is also important to keep in mind that different pits may have been used for a range of activities. The theory that the pits would be the result of the burning down of ants' nests during forest fires (Crombé et al 2015;Crombé & Langohr 2020) has recently been discussed and rejected by Huisman et al (2020).…”

Section: Super Interesting Black Hole?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Super interesting black hole? The micromorphology of organic materials in a Mesolithic hearth pit feature from the site of Soest-Staringlaan (the Netherlands)

Huisman¹,

Tebbens²

2021

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A series of thin sections from a Mesolithic hearth pit from the site of Soest-Staringlaan (the Netherlands) were studied to assess the variability of the charred and non-charred organic remains inside them. Non-charred remains included plant roots; fungal fruiting bodies and hyphae; mesofauna coprolites; and podzolization-related polymorphic humus and monomorphic humus coatings. Charred remains included charcoal of coniferous wood, charred non-woody plant material and fragments of wood. However, a large proportion of the charred material consists of fine, powdery fragments. This may at least partly be due to trampling and/or eluviation of disintegrating charcoal. Most of the micromorphological features in the Soest pit are similar to those found in pits from previously investigated Mesolithic sites. Common features include the presence of large fragments of charcoal in the lower parts of hearth pits, tar, charred humus and evidence for charcoal disintegration and eluviation. The combined results first and foremost demonstrate the strong variability between samples within the same feature. This implies that multiple samples from a pit are necessary in order to at least attempt to try to capture this variability. It is also clear from the results that sampling should include layers or deposits that macroscopically seem to be outside the feature proper. These may contain parts of the phenomenon studied that are difficult to recognize with the naked eye. These observations add to the notion that Mesolithic hearth pits are generally formed by the same human activities, formation processes and taphonomy. However, they make clear that intense sampling is needed for any research to better understand the formation of these pits and that supplemental chemical analyses may be needed to better interpret the observed features and get a better idea of the potential use of these common Mesolithic features.

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“…1. Een recente hypothese stelt dat de mesolithische kuilhaarden uitgebrande mierennesten betreffen (Crombé et al, 2015) titel Resurfacing Doggerland. Environment, humans and material culture in a postglacial drowning landscape.…”

Section: Van Homo Erectus Tot Jagerverzamelaarslandschappenunclassified

Op de schouders van reuzen. De archeologie van Noordwest-Europa

Raemaekers¹,

Arnoldussen²,

Nicolay³

et al. 2021

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On the shoulders of giants: the archaeology of northwestern Europe. From its founding in 1918, the Biologisch-Archaeologisch Instituut has carried out research on stone-age hunter-gatherers, the start and the development of prehistoric farming communities, burial mounds and settlements on the sandy soils, and the occupation of the terp-mound district. This article presents the highlights of a century-long research history and identifies current developments.

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Mesolithic hearth-pits: fact or fantasy? A reassessment based on the evidence from the sites of Doel and Verrebroek (Belgium)

Cited by 29 publications

References 25 publications

Ancient and Early Medievalman-made habitats in the Czech Republic

Ancient and Early Medievalman-made habitats in the Czech Republic

Super interesting black hole? The micromorphology of organic materials in a Mesolithic hearth pit feature from the site of Soest-Staringlaan (the Netherlands)

Op de schouders van reuzen. De archeologie van Noordwest-Europa

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